The Supreme Court today rejected a plea seeking raising the smoking age to 21 years. The Supreme Court said that the petition was more propaganda than public awareness. The petition demanded that the smoking age be raised from 18 to 21, and that the sale of loose cigarettes be stopped.
A bench of justices SK Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia dismissed the petition. If you want publicity, file a petition on a good point. The court also admonished the petitioner not to file such petitions for publicity.
Advocates Shubham Awasthi and Saptarshi Mishra had filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking guidelines to control smoking. The petition demanded raising the age limit for smoking from 18 to 21 and removing smoking zones at airports, hotels, commercial establishments etc. However, the court rejected this petition.